Dissident Voice

October
20, 2003

The
past three years have demonstrated a disturbing trend: when tragedy befalls our
country, we can count on the Republican leadership to capitalize on another
opportunity to push its extremist agenda and reward its big business allies.

In
the aftermath of the crippling northeastern blackout in August, Congress has
been working feverishly to pass an energy bill full of supposedly beneficial
energy solutions for American citizens. But behind closed doors, corporations,
lobbyists, and leadership in both houses have been wrangling over just how far
they can push the envelope of this bill to benefit their oily,
deregulation-happy friends.

They
have packed the bill with giveaways for the various big energy corporations.
There are subsidies for atomic power, for Big Oil, and the repeal of a crucial
historic law that has provided the regulatory framework for electricity
companies.

One
particularly egregious provision in the bill would shield producers of MTBE
(methyl tertiary butyl ether) from any legal claims that the chemical is
"defective in design or manufacture." MTBE is a little-known toxic
component of gasoline sold in many parts of the country.

MTBE
is added to gasoline as part of the Clean Air Act's efforts to require the use
of "oxygenates" to make gasoline burn more cleanly and efficiently.
But MTBE is only one kind of oxygenate and despite manufacturers' claims to the
contrary, MTBE has never been specifically mandated as a fuel additive.
Released into the environment from tens of thousands of leaking storage tanks
and spills, it is one of the most ubiquitous pollutants in the nation.

There
is only one reason that some legislators and their oil and chemical taskmasters
have pushed so hard for this immunity bailout provision: MTBE is a defective
product. Documents produced at a recent trial in California proved that
gasoline manufacturers have long known the cold hard truth about MTBE: because
of its extreme water solubility, this toxic chemical spreads in the environment
farther and faster than other components of gasoline, and it is extremely
costly to clean up.

Now
companies that make and use MBTE are seeking absolution from cleaning up the
mess they made. Lawsuits from coast to coast seek to hold them accountable.
These companies should not be shielded from foreseeable negative effects of the
products they create or employ.

Citizens
concerned about the safety of their drinking water are outraged that Congress
is seeking to shift tens of billions of dollars in toxic cleanup costs from the
biggest oil companies in the nation to taxpayers and drinking water ratepayers.
The MBTE provision is tantamount to a nationwide, $30 billion tax hike. If
successful, this craven effort would be one of the bigger corporate bailouts in
American history and a staggering rollback of the "polluters pays"
laws that have cleaned up contamination hazards in every state in the Nation.
It would open a Pandora's box for manufacturers to seek liability immunity for
a vast array of products with serious environmental or public health risks.

For
over twenty years, United States decision-makers and courts have agreed that
industries must bear the cost of cleaning up the environmental problems that
they create. This is an appropriate remedy for damage caused by companies that
pollute, and it deters future pollution hazards.

There
is a lot of talk these days about "taking responsibility" - which
corporatists masquerading as conservatives use to refer only to regular people.
Here the hypocrisy of the responsibility rhetoric is laid bare:

The
chemical and oil companies that make and use MTBE are specifically looking to
escape their responsibility. But the usual conservative responsibility chorus
is silent.

More
than a few members of Congress have taken a turn singing from the
responsibility hymnal. It's time for these members of Congress to fulfill their
responsibilities -- by refusing to relieve corporations of theirs.

Fortunately,
there are some in Congress willing to take a stand. Having seen first hand the
value of the polluter pays framework in helping to clean the feculent toxic
mess made by General Electric in the Hudson River, Senator Chuck Schumer has
promised to filibuster if the MTBE provision remains in the bill. And last
week, 42 Senators signed a "dear colleague" letter initiated by
Senator Barbara Boxer asking that the energy bill conferees remove the MTBE
escape from liability protection.

And
a coalition of national health, environmental, science and consumer
organizations have banded together to oppose the MTBE provision. Organizations
of cities and water suppliers -- including The National League of Cities, U.S.
Conference of Mayors, Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, American
Water Works Association, National Association of Water Companies, Association
of California Water Agencies, and National Rural Water Association -- have also
opposed the provision.

But
in order to fend off this corporate bailout, our Congressional leaders need to
hear from you. Call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224- 3121, and ask to
speak to your Representative and Senator about this dump and run liability
protection provision in the energy bill.

Ralph Naderis America’s
leading consumer advocate. He is the founder of numerous public interest groups
includingPublic Citizen, and has twice
run for President as aGreen Partycandidate. His
latest book is Crashing the Party: How to Tell the Truth and Still Run for
President (St. Martin’s Press, 2002)